Chujiro Hayashi (林 忠次郎, Hayashi Chūjirō, 15 September 1880 – 11 May 1940), a disciple of Mikao Usui, played a major role in the transmission of Reiki out of Japan and for turning it into a less mystical practice. Hayashi was a naval physician and employed Reiki to treat his patients. He began studying with Usui in 1925. He made his branch, Hayashi Reiki Kenkyu-kai in Tokyo, Shinano-machi while his master Usui was still alive, and has kept the way of Usui's teaching. In 1940, Hayashi committed seppuku, a Japanese form of ritual suicide.